Issues in Education and Training for Working Women. Worker Education and Training Policies Project and National Commisssion on Working Women.

Wilder, Denise

This paper reviews and summarizes the current and projected status of education and employment, and their relatedness, for working women, and suggests avenues for improvement. It examines women's increasing role in the labor force and the social, economic, and demographic trends and projections relevant to that role. In evaluating the impact on women of existing programs of worker education and training, the paper assesses federal, local, private, and union offerings for working women. After this delineation of the female workforce, its educational opportunities, and the spurs and barriers to use of those opportunities, consideration is given to policy implications for government, private sector, and educational institutions. The focus of the paper provides a rationale for a special focus on working women's educational opportunities. Its context is that when women are not specifically targeted by a program, they are underserved by it; artificial barriers stemming from sex-role stereotypes render unequal their opportunity to benefit from the program. Thus, while all workers can profit from greater consideration of their educational needs, it is the aim of this paper to help program designers understand the specific needs of women, so that predictable obstacles faced by female workers may be addressed preventively rather than remedially. (KC)